Bombers shock Roos with blistering attack

Lauderdale's Robbie McManus escapes a tackle on the Bombers’ way to victory over Clarence. Picture: Luke BowdenSource: News Limited

THE State League’s sleeping giant awoke from its slumber in emphatic fashion yesterday to not only inflict Clarence’s first loss of the season but hammer the Roos into submission.

For the first nine weeks Lauderdale has been the competition’s big disappointment but after a draw with Burnie and a hard-fought victory over Glenorchy in the past fortnight the wheels looked like they were turning. Still, the Bombers went into the clash at Blundstone Arena missing a host of first choice players and were $9 rank outsiders against their previously undefeated Eastern Shore rivals.

By the final siren the Bombers had stunned the home side 17.15 (117) to 9.11 (65), delivering a master class in pressure and high intensity at the contest.

It was a 134-point turnaround from when the two sides met in Round 5, with even Lauderdale coach Darren Winter admitting he never thought such a result was possible given he was severely undermanned.

With the likes of Michael Cassidy, Ben Halton, Alex Hevey, Alex Hill and Damon Smith missing – and Kaine Waller a late withdrawal with a hamstring injury – the visitors looked ripe for the picking.

The writing was on the wall just seven minutes into the contest, with James Charlesworth marking on the lead three times but the usually reliable star sprayed two of his chances.

Lauderdale's Ethan Whish-Wilson negotiates some heavy traffick on the way to a thumping win. Picture: Luke BowdenSource: News Limited

It took eight minutes for the Bombers to get on the scoreboard through Shaun Long but when he swooped on a ball at the back of a pack 30m out it sparked his side into action and they rammed on five unanswered majors.

Fleet-footed forwards Long, Dylan Fyfe and Nicholas Burk were running rings around the Clarence defenders, Bryce Walsh was at the bottom of every pack, Zach Plant found possession after possession while skipper Matthew Smith was the cool head marshalling his troops across the backline.

Lauderdale received an even spread of contribution across the board but it was the performance of Robbie McManus that pleased Winter most. McManus was outstanding running off a half-forward flank, recapturing his best form from a couple of years ago when he was a star underage player.

“I suppose the age of the group, that is one of the best wins we’ve had,” Winter said.

“The pleasing thing was they all did it together. Their pressure was outstanding. Sometimes you drop off your pressure at different stages of the game but I thought we were pretty good for three quarters.”

The Roos had few winners on the day, with Lauderdale able to shut down the run and drive of Jeromey Webberley and Brady Jones, although they were helped by Charlesworth (2.5) and Trent Standen (2.4) being wasteful.

Coach Matthew Drury admitted his men had not faced the pressure they encountered yesterday all year.

“That was fairly embarrassing, I thought,’’ he said. They really stepped it up this time around and just put us under a huge amount pressure and we couldn’t respond well to that.

“There could have been some shock in some of the players or surprise that they did come out so physical and with that intent to pressure.”

At the Twin Ovals, the Tigers’ horror few weeks continued, with the Western Storm inflicting a 27.19 (181) to 4.13 (37) defeat on the young cubs, their third consecutive 20- goal-plus mauling.